Railway car flush door structure



April 18, 1961 T. c. soDDY RAILWAY CAR FLUSH DOOR STRUCTURE 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 24, 1958 April 18, 1961 Filed April 24, 1958 T. C. SODDY RAILWAY CAR FLUSH D'OOR STRUCTURE 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 April 18, 1961 T. c. soDDY RAILWAY CAR FLUSH DooR STRUCTURE 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed April 24, 1958 April 18, 1961 T. c. soDDY RAILWAY CAR FLUSH DOOR STRUCTURE 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed April 24, 1958 April 18, 1961 T C, SODDY RAILWAY CAR FLUSH DOOR STRUCTURE Filed April 24, 1958 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG I I FIG IO April 18, 1961 T. c. soDDY RAILWAY CAR FLUSH DooR STRUCTURE 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed April 24, 1958 United States Patent O j,

RAILWAY CAR FLUSH DGGR STRUCTURE Thomas C. Soddy, Downers Grove, lll., assignor to Chicago Railway Equipment Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Filed Apr. 24, 1958, Ser. No. 730,624

Claims. (Cl. 2li-23) VThis invention relates to railway car doors, such as refrigerator car doors, and more particularly to supporting, operating and holding means for sliding car doors of the type which close into a door opening in a side wall of a car, the door when fully closed being substantially flush with the side wall.

When a railway car equipped with a sliding door ofthe 'class described is subjected to endwise impacts, such as occur in switching operations, if the door should be open (and not latched in fully open position), it will slide endwise repeatedly with considerable momentum. With prior supporting and operating means, this has resulted in the front or rear end of the door bouncing against the front or rear stops for the door, depending upon the direction of impact, resulting in such dynamic shocks that the door stops may be knocked ofi the car or the door may be badly damaged, or the track or guide damaged. One of the objects of this invention is the provision of improved door supporting and operating Vmeans which acts automatically, upon sliding of the door in closing direction, to swing both the front and rear ends of the door into the door opening. Thus, should the door be open when the car is subjected to an impact which makes the door slide in closing direction, the door will automatically move into such a position within the door opening that subsequent end impacts cannot cause it to move.

A sliding door of the class described when closed may be subjected to relatively high internal loads tending to push it outwardly. For example, in a car loaded with barrels of merchandise, barrels may break loose and wedge against the inside surface of the door. Another object of the invention is the provision of means for locking the door in closed position to resist such internal loads.

In prior sliding door constructions, the weight of the door when closed is borne by the door supporting and operating means, and vibration of the car while in service is apt to cause wear of parts and sagging of the door.

A furtherv objection of this invention is the provision Yof means for automatically taking the load dueto the weight ofthe door ofi the supporting and operating means whenever the door is closed to avoid such wear andsag- Sliding doors of the class described usually are supported by a lower track and retained at the top by a top retainer or guide. When a car is subjected to severe endwise impact, the stress is such that the portion of the car side plate above the door opening tends to buckle upward and the portionl of the car side sill below the door opening tends to buckle downward, with resultant tendency to spread apart the track and top retainer.V With prior constructions, this' spreading couldA result in theA disengagement of the door supporting and joperating meansfrom the top retainer. A further object of this invention is the provision of safety means as a part of the door supporting and operating mechanism which acts to prevent such disengagement. Gther objects and features :gbe in part apparent and in part pointed out herein- Patented Apr. 18, 196.1

ln the accompanying drawings, in which several of various possible embodiments of the inventori are illustrated,

Fig. 1 is a view in elevation of a side wall of a re-y frigerator car equipped with a door structure of this invention, the door being shown in closed position;

Fig. lA is an enlarged vertical sertion taken on line 1A.-1A of Fig. 1; Y

Figs. 2 and 3 are enlarged vertical sections taken on lines 2-2 and 3 3, respectively, of Fig. l, the middle portion of the door being broken away in each instance;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged horizontal section taken on line 5-5 of Fig. l;

Figs.V 6-9 are views similar to Fig. S-but illustrating various moved positions of the door;

' Fig. l0 is a view in elevation of a side wall of an insulated box car equipped with a door structure of this invention, the door being shown in closed position;

Fig. ll is an enlarged vertical section taken on line 11-11 of Fig. 10, the middle portion of the door being broken away;

Fig. 12 is an enlarged horizontal section taken on line 12-12 of Fig. 10; and,

Fig. 13 is a view similar to Fig. 12 and showing a moved position of the door.

Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawmes- Y Y A railway refrigerator car side wall 1 yhas a door open-- ing 3. A relatively thick sliding door 5 is adapted to occupy a closed position in the opening 3 substantially ush with the side wall 1. At the bottom of door opening y3 is a threshold plate 7 (see Figs. lA, 2 and 3) which is inclined upward from outside toinside. This plate lies outside a bottom stop 9. At the top of the door opening is a header 11. At the left and right ends of the door opening there are door posts 13 and 15.

The door 5 comprises a rectangular wood frame 17, a sheet metal outside panel 19 and a plywood inside panel 21. Frame 17 is made so that the door 5 has a rabbet 23 all around its edge on the inside. Rubber sealing strips such as indicated at 25 are provided around the frame on the inwardly facing surface of therabbet 23 for sealing engagement with stop 9, header 11 and posts 13 and 15 when the door is closed. The thickness of the door, as shown, is thegsame as the thickness of the car wall and, when the door is closed, with the rubber Sealing strips compressed, its outside face is ilushV with the outside of the car wall and its inside face is ush with the inside of the car wall.` The door has ahand hold 27 at its right end. y Rivets 29 are provided in side f wall 1 adjacent the right end of the door opening for a special purpose to be described.

Door 5 is part of a door assembly A including front and rear rotary mounting shafts 31F and 31R extending verticallyfon the outside of the door and journalled in upper, lower and intermediate bearings 37. Shaft 31F is located near the front end 39 of the door, and shaft u 31R is located near the rear end 41 of the door. The Vfront end of the door is Yits end( which leads and the rear end of the'door is its end` which trails as the door slides in 'closing direction, which is toward the left asv channel 50...Y Each of the lower crank arms 45 has .ln

Y bearing for the shaft;

- doot-in fully open position.

rollercarriage 51 vertically pin-connected at its free end as indicated at 53, whereby the crank arms may swing horizontally on the vertical axes of the pin-connections. Each carriage 51 carries rollers 55 riding on track 47 and hashook'portions4 Ysuch as indicatedV at 57 which extend 'under the track. Each of the upper crank arms 43 hasl a roller 59 on a verticalrpin at its free end, the roller riding inthe` channel portion 50 of the guide 49. When the dooris in closed position (Figs. l and v) upper and lower crank arms 43 and 45 of both mounting shafts 311;"l and 31R extend from the shafts longitudinally of the car in the direction of opening movement ofthe door, which is toward Vthe right'as viewed in Figs. l and 5. To open vthe door, it is necessary to swing it out of thev door openingfi,V the crank arms 43 and 45 swinging from thees'tated longitudinal position (Fig. 5 to an outwardly vextending lateral position-(Fig. 9). Then thedoor maybe moved longitudinally von the outside of the carto a retracted position clear Yof the door`opening by rolling the entire door assembly to the right on the track 47. l 4 Door assembly A further comprises front and'V rear rotary locking shafts 61F and61R extending verticallyon the outside of the door each journalled in upper, lower and intermediate bearings 62. The front locking shaft 61E is located inward of and closely adjacent the front mounting shaft 31F. The rear locking shaft 61R is located inward of and closely adjacent the rear'mounting shaft 31R. The locking shafts are rotatable independentlyof the mounting shafts. Each locking .,sh'aft has an eccentric lug 63 at each end. VFor each locking shaft, thereis a pair of keepers 65 on the car sidewall, one aboveand the other below the door opening. Each keeper 65 has an angled slot 67 (see Fig. 5) for receiv-` ing Ythe respective lug 63 whereby upon rotation of a respective locking shaft in one direction (counterclockwise f or shaft 61F and clockwise for shaft 61R asviewed from above), the lugs thereon are cammed inward andthe door is forced closed and locked, and on rotation of the shaft in the opposite direction, the lugs thereon@ are cammed outward and the door is unlocked and forced, in thedirection out of thev door opening. .Each locking shaft has a handle 69 pivoted at 70 thereon. When the door is closed and locked, these handles occupy a position generally flat against the outside of the door inclined downward vfrom their pivotal connections V70, with one handle crossing on the outside of the other and held in a catch'71 on the outside of the door; The handlesrare held against play by their, lugs 69a and69b. The handles areadaptedto be swung ,up to horizontal position and thenswung out for rotatingy the locking shaftsto unlock the doorY and force it in the directionY out; of theopening, the left handle being swung clockwiseand the right han- Y 4 1 and 5-9) nears the end of its closing movement, the door is automatically swung into substantiallyl closed position in the door opening 3. t This feature is particularly desirable in conjunction with the latch means 81 to avoid banging back and forth of the door in case it should be left partially opened and the car subsequently subjected to impactsV such 'as occur in switching operations.' As shown, this means comprises a so-called front kicker stop 83 on the outside of the car side wall below door opening 3 adjacent the front end of the door opening. This stop 83, as shown, consists simply of a lug Welded on the side wall of the car projecting outward from the car in position for engagement of its rear edge by the front -1 roller carriage 51- when the latter reaches a position spaced from the front end of the door opening a'distance corresponding to the throw of the crank arms 43 and 45 plus the distance from thecfront end of the door to the front mounting shaft 31E". Accordingly, when the door assembly slides in closing direction, the door moves parallel to the car side wall until the frontv roller carriage l strikes the stop or lug 83 (see Fig. 9), whereupon mon gageable by the roller 59 of the upper front crank arm VForveach of Ythe mounting shafts r31Fv;and 31R there yis astop 731fortrestricting the rotationjof'thev shaft in dooropening direction toV approximately 90j?,l and thereby limiting the rotation of the crank arms, to 90?',QAAS

Shown in Eigs. l and 4, the stop 73 foreach Amounting shaft comprises an arm having an arcuate end portion 75 welded .on the'v shaft immediately belowvtheupper The arm extends tangentially'from the shaft and has an angled end portion 77V engageable flatwise with the outside of the door when the shaft is rotatedY from, its door-closed toits door-open position. Fig. 4'shows theV front shaft 31E and the stop jorarm73 thereon inthe door-open position in dotted lines; andfin the doorclosed;position in `solidrlines.n c

43 to arrest this roller when the front`roller carriage strikes stop 83.

YThe automatic swinging means further Vcomprises a socalled closing kicker 87 on the outside of the car side wall below the door opening adjacent the rear end of the door opening. This kicker, as shown, consists of a lug welded on the side wall of the car and projecting outward therefrom in position for engagement by an ecen tric projection 89 on the rear lower crank arm 45 upon engagement of the front roller carriage 51 with stop-83. As the door assembly is sliding toward closed position, projection 89 engages kicker 87 (see Fig. 9), causing the rear lower crank arm to swing clockwise as viewed from above to carry the rear edge of the door into the door opening. This brings rear crank arm 45 under stop 83 and at the same time forward crank arm 45 moves under the adjacent keeper 65. Thereafter, rough track, buing impacts or other forces would not vbeA able to move the door upwardly because of the engagement of the arms-with the overlying elements.

The bottom edge of the door isprovided adjacent each end thereof with a ballroller 91 ;(see Figs. 1 and V1A) adapted to ride up theinclined portion of the threshold and lift the door up slightly to take the weight'of the door off the roller carriages. This takes the load offthe rollers 55 when the door is closed, thereby avoiding Wear and sagging of the door such as may otherwise occu due to vibration of the car while in service. Y Y, i. Extending upwardly from upper crank arms 43 are C shaped 'retainers 93 (Figs. l3) having upper portions 95 overlying guide 49 and prevent rollers-59 from drop-y pingrbelow Vand moving out from behindguide V4 9A-be causeY of vertical buckling of the guide. Retainer93 will also prevent dropping the door in the event ofloss or displacement of track 47. Thesev retainers Varevsimilar to Vthose shown in my copending application entitled` House Ca/r Side Door Structure,` Serial No.- 718,865,

Y flied March 3, 195s.

V Bumpers 79 Vare provided on the sidewall '1 lto'liniit Y lsliding of the 'door in opening direction'. v Latch means 81 ofrany suitable construction, details of which are not essential, is provided on the side wallY 1 for latchingY the Means'is provided wherebyyas thefdoor 5 inf-sliding There is a rain guard 97 on the car side wallrlY which extends outward fromV the wall above the door opening 3 and which has gaps as indicatedat 98 foraccommodating the upper keepers 65 andthe upper'ends/ofY shafts 311I and 31R` and shafts 61F and 61R. A stop 99 constitnted.

by a flange on the rain guardV is provided for engage-Y ment byY the rearmounting shaft`31R to keep Athe, door from moving to the right during the initialphsepf. opening of the door. i i Operation is'asfollows: Y y 7 To .open door 5, front (left) Ylocking shaftfGIPis manually rotated clockwise as viewed from above'byf 4 Y avoided.

means of its handle 69 enough to relieve the pressure on sealing strip 25 at the front end of the door against front door post 13'(see Fig. 6). Only a relatively small degree of rotation of shaft 61F is required for this purpose. Then rear (right) locking shaft 61Ris `manually rotated counterclockwise by means of its handle 69 to a position such as shown in Fig. 7. This brings the rear (right) end of the door partly out of the door openagravar ing. 1t also automatically brings the front (left) end of the door partly out of the door opening (see Fig. 7) by reason of the door pivoting about the line of contact of the rear end of the doorV and rear door post 15, this line being indicated at X in Fig. 7. The outward movement of the left end of the door thrusts lugs 63 on shaft 61F against lthe outer sldes of vslots 67 and thus rotates the shaft to the position shown in Fig. 7. During the operation of rear locking shaft 61R, stop 99 (Figs. l, 3) keeps the door from moving to the right to any considerable extent until the upper end of shaft y61R slides out past stop 99, thus preventing lugs 63 yon shaft 61R from moving too far to the right in their keeper slots 67, Vwhich would make it dilicult to pull the door out. Then the rear end of the door is pulled completely out of the opening Yby grasping handle 27, and the door is moved rearward (toward the right). As the door is moved rearward, its inside face wipes over rivets 29 (see Fig. 8), and this swings the front (left) end of the door completely out of the door opening. Then the door may be manually rolled rearward to completely open position clear of door opening 3 and latched in this position b y the latch means 81 (Fig. l). f

4 To close the door, the latch means is released, and the door rolled forward. Forward linear movement of the door is arrestedY when the front roller carriage 51 strikes thef front kicker stop 83 (see Fig. 9) vand the roller 59 on the upper front crank arm 43 strikesthe stop 85 (Fig. l). The front end of the door swings into the door opening 3 and the rear end of the door is kicked into the door opening by the engagement of the projection 89 on the rear lower crank arm 45 with the kicker 87, the door ending up in a position approximately as shown in Fig. 7. As the door swings into the door opening, the eccentric locking'lugs 63 enter the slots 67 in the keepers 65. `Then, the rear (right) locking shaft G1R is given a full swing in locking direction. This-automatically moves the front (left) end of `the door into the Fig. 6 position. the door pivoting on front gasket 25, and rotates the front (left) locking shaft 61F to the Fig. 6 position. Finally thefront locking shaft 61F is man? ually rotated through the remainder of its swing to complete the closing of the door and compress the sealing strips.

-If-the l door should bc left Apartially open, Vuponla'n 6 spond to those shown in Figs. 1-9 bear the same refer'- Vence characters as in Figs. 1- 9. Y

f The door structure for the insulated box car is shown herein Iin addition to the door structure of therefrigerator car door because there is a difference in the mode of operation due to the insulated box car door 105 being relatively thin. Being thin, door 105 would not pivot properly along a line such as X (Fig. 8) as does the refrigerator door to bring the front end partly out of the door opening as shown in Fig. 7 for the refrigerator car door. However, because the door V105 is thin, once its left locking shaft 61F has been rotated a small amount and its right locking' shaft 61R has been'rotated the appropriate amount, even though the front end of the door 105 does not come out to a position corresponding to that shown in Fig. 7, it is relatively easy manually to pull the door out by the right locking shaft without any further operation of the left locking shaft.

The door is held in opened positionV by a latch 111 pivoted on a mounting bracket 113 secured to the side wall. The latch'is held horizontal, as shown, when the door is closed but rides up over a hook 117 on the rear carriage 119 when the door is opened.

Also, the operation on closing the relatively thin insulated box car door 105 is slightly different from that for the refrigerator car door in that before the box car Y door is manually moved to close it, the left (front) locktion (toward the wright), the door will be automatically Y latched in fully open positon by the latch .means 81.

Upon an impact which causes the door to slide in closing directionttoward'the left), the door will automatically swing into the Fig-7 position, and remain there. l ,flfhusg banging back and forth of the door such aswould otherwise occur if the door should beleft partially openis Figs. 10-13 show the invention for the refrigerator car, except'zthat tliegw'allu101-is -this invention. is usedY for vpreventing rinllersv 59gfrom A as applied tofan inp sulated box car side wall 101 having a door opening 103. I The construction is Vgenerally` the same as Ythat` shown coming outf,offguidef49. Asidelfromthedifferencein the door:V thickness, the door aSsjernbly. shown ,in jFigs.

10-'13v is 4the same as that shown v-fortherefrigerator-fear door, the parts shown in Figs.`q1'0''13' which correfis prises a safety guard angle bar 107 in the guide 49 overA the door opening and a similar bar 109 in extension of bar 107 beyond the door opening. These angle bars 107 and 109 are secured on the rain guard 97, and have one leg extending upward for engagement by the bottoms of the upper crank arms 43 to keep the rollers 59 in the channel portion 50 of the guide 49.

In view of the above, it will be seen that the several objects of the invention are achieved and other advantageous results attained.

As various changes could be made in the laboveconstructions. without departing from the scope of the invention, Ait is intended that all matter contained inthe above description or shown in the accompanying drawings' shall be interpreted as illustrative `,and not in a limiting sense.

Iclaim: Y v

1. lSupporting andV operatingrmeans for a sliding railway jcar door of the type which closes into a door opening in a side wall of the car substantially flush with said side wall, comprising ar track on the outside of said side wall belowthe door opening,.a pair of upright. mounting shafts spaced apart lengthwise of the door and journaled on the doorto rotate freely during door shiftingmovements but held against verticalmovement on the door, crankl arms fixed on the lower. ends of the mounting shafts,`spaced carriages ridingy on the track alongside said Vopeningrand beyond the same, the outer endV of each l crank arm having a pivot support on a respective'one of the door opening, directlytransversely of thegeneral plane of the Vcarfside wall, :'a vpair of verticalA locking shafts, VV,one adjacentY each Vmounting shaft, vrotatably mounted on ,and carriedy by .the door, andfrotatable independently of said'mounting shafts, eccentrielugs` on the, lower ends Yof. the locking shafts; keepersk fixed on the sidewall for receiving ,said lugsysaid lugs beingslrota'ta-f ble'bysaidalocking shafts independently of the mounting shafts into positions behind said keepers-tol positively 'resist movement ofthe door otlwardlyof'the door o'pen#VY l ing; and'means*automatically swinging-:hdm crankT armsvll entirecarriages independentlyofjvthe `locking shafts to" move thefdoor into closed position A' '7 asjthedoor .is moved from an open position` to a .position abreast of the door opening. f d 2.Supporting'and'operating means as 4set forth in claim l wherein said swinging means comprises a V stop on the side wall engageable by the front carriage to arrest the latter in a position wherein it is spaced from the front end of the door opening a distance corresponding to the sum of the distance from the front end of the door tothe front mounting shaft and the throw of the crank arms, and a kicker on the side wall engageable 3 Supporting and operating means as setv forth in Yclaim A1 wherein each ofthe mounting shafts has an arm thereon engageable with the outside of the door when the shaft rotates in door-opening direction to limit the rotation of the shaft and the swing of the door.

4. Supporting and operating means as set forth in claim 3 wherein said armconsists of a bar secured to the outside of the mounting shaft extending tangentially from the mounting shaft and having an angled end portion engageable atwise with the outside of the door.

5. Supporting and operating means as set forthA in claim l wherein the locking shafts have handles pivotally connected thereto, said handles being adapted to occupy a position crossing each other and generally fiat yagainst the outside of the car door when the door is positioned fully within the door opening, and an upwardly opening catch on the door receiving the outer of said crossed handles in saidrposition whereby the outer handle holds both locking shafts againstrotation.

6. Supporting and operating means as set Y forth in claim l wherein the side wall at the door opening has a threshold inclined upward from outside to inside, and wherein the door has rollers at the bottom which ride up the threshold to lift the door as it moves into the door opening and relieve the crank arms, carriages and track of the weight of the door.

7. Supporting and operating means for a sliding railway car door of the type which closes into a door'opening in a side wall'of the car substantially ush with said side wall, comprising a track on the outside of said side wall below the door opening, a guide on the outside of the side wall above the door opening, front upper and lower. crank arms and rear upper and lower crank arms v Y on theidoor, carriages pivoted on the ends of the lower crank arms riding on the track, means on the ends of the upper crank armsfguided by the guide, said crank arms being swingable in and out for movement Yof the door into and out of closed position, saiddoonwhen swung out of' closed position being'movable lorifgitdi nally along theside of the car in rearwarddirection to a retracted position clear ofthe opening and beingmovl able back in forward direction for -closing`thereof, a Stop on the sidewall engageable byY the'front carriage portion of the door transversely of the side wall inwardly and outwardly of the doorfopening, an outwardlyA .pro jecting element on the side wallnearthe'rear. endof thedooropening andengagingthe inner faceA ofthe door as the vdoor moves pasttheelernent toatomatically swing'the forward portion of the'. door outwardly .and to swing said-mounting. shafts about their Vjournalsjand pivots. fj

9. Arailwayca'r sliding *door with Supporting VYand operating means of the type which moves the door trans-A versely of the car wall into a doot opening where the door is flush with the wall, comprising a track on the wall. carriages movable along said'tr'ack, door support arms spaced apart lengthwise'of the door eachthaving a vertical trunnion at one end freely journaled'on a' rejspective carriage and a vertical journal VatV the otherend freely pivotedonthe door, a.: upright operating shaft journaled on Athe door near one'end and having aera'nk arm provided witha locking lug, a keeper secured V to the wall and provided withfcarn faces cooperating with Y said lug to force the adjacentend of the door inwardly of said opening when the shaft is rotatedin kone direction, and to forcethe door outwardly o f saidopening when the shaft is rotated in the opposite direction, opposing elements on the edge of the door near said operating I shaftand onthe wall, said elements contacting upon initial rotation of the operating shaft in the last mentionedr direction to forma pivotV for the door about said edge and to swing said crank arms on the door and on said carriagesI toclear the door from the door opening as the shaft rotation is continued. A

10; A railway *doop with supporting :and operating means according to claim 9 in whichthe' upright operating shaft is provided with a handlelever by which'it Yis rotated, and the crank arms are provided. with stops limiting their rotation on the door,'whereby,the moveto'the side wall.

Y 12. Supporting and operating means for al sliding railwayrcarjdoor according to claim l in Ywhich a ,stopis fixed on the side wall and Vprojects*outuV/arqlvlyVY therefrom,

and a 1ug onn one of the carriages( engages Hwithsaid stop to arrest movement offthecarriage toward door to arrest the latterin Va position spaced from the front end of the door opening a'distance such as to enable swinging of the frontend of the door into closedposi- .tion in the doorV opening, and a kicker lon the side wall e'llggeable by the lower'rear crank arm to vswing this arm and the rear end of the door inward.. Y Y

i V8. In a railway car side wall and flush sliding door i structure, upright mounting -shaftsV freely Vjournaled on the door'near itsfront and'rear ends,jeach mounting shaft havmga lateral 'arm"at the'bottoni of the door 'with`V a vertical trunnionat its" outer end,y atrack spaced'outf closing position and thereby swings the cranknarm tog ward the car side walljandlbeneath said stop. whereby l said `track, stopand'car'riage holdthe door agairisvt'vertical'movement relative Ytothecar sidewallfwhenu'inclosled position. f

v13. InY corn Y ad oor opening, there being upright frojnt'and'rear posts at VoppositeV ends thereof, and a door@ fitting into said openin'gsubstantially flush with'th'e wall, atrack mounted on the wall abreast ofand'beyond saidopeningfcarriages on and movable along the track, 'horizontal'armslspaced apart Vlengthwise of the door, each freely jouraledyat naled ofthe door near Vtheend thereof adjacent to vsaid wardly'from and Ymounted lonthe side wall,.s2aed Year? I riagesznear thefront and -rearof the door respectively and movableoversaid track and individuallyY freely jour` nalingi'said .trunnions," Aan upright :operating shaftV jour;- naledfonfthe door near-the rear end of the'door andYV provided with van Yoperating handle and with anV offset rearpost,'offset locking lugs atthe ends-o said shaft,

,keepers o n the wall with cam faces; a manuallyhoperahle lever handleon said `shaft and movableriria directi-c` nto-` ward said ffrontprost and toward--thegdoontc frotatethe shaftvvn one direction toV thrust `said lugs against'keep'el" lug against keepertounovethe rear g5 tthrustffsaidflugs against` kee'percam f es!! move the adjacent end of the door outwardly of said opening and then to move the rear end of the door against said rear post and thereby to swing the front end of the door about said rear post as a pivot and out of the opening, said horizontal arms swinging upon their pivots on said carriages under the thrust of the moving door, and then to move the door along said Wall past said rear post.

14. Supporting and operating means as set forth in claim 1 in which there is an elongated guide xed on the outside of the side Wall above the door opening and forming a downwardly open channel, keepers fixed on the side wall above the door opening and below said guide, eccentric lugs on the upper ends of the locking shafts and rotatable by the latter into engagement with said keepers above the door opening, crank arms on the upper ends of the mounting shafts above the level of and movable over said eccentric lugs on the upper ends of the locking shafts and the keepers therefor, said latter-mentioned crank arms having elements at their swinging ends received in and retained by said channel in said guide.

15. In combination, a railway car wall having a door opening and a track alongside and below said opening and a downwardly opening channel-section guide above and alongside said opening, carriages with grooved wheels on said track, and a door having a vertical mounting shaft with crank arms at its lower end, the lower crank arm being pivoted at its outer end on said carriage, a crank arm at the upper end of said mounting shaft with its terminal received in said guide and limiting movement of the door outwardly from the car side, keepers on said Wall above and below said opening, and a locking shaft journaled on said door adjacent to 'said mounting shaft with oiset locking lugs at top and bottom, movable by rotation of the locking shaft into engagement with said keepers, said mounting shaft upper crank `arm being movable over said locking shaft top lug and the keeper therefor.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,219,059 Wieseckel et al. Mar. 13, 1917 2,083,708 Haseltine June 15, 1937 2,101,942 Haseltine Dec. 14, 1937 2,150,271 Dwyer Mar. 14, 1939 2,605,515 Beauchamp Aug. 5, 1952 2,741,807 Powers Apr. 17, 1956 2,765,502 Torburn Oct. 9, 1956 

